Carteret to honor rescuers during Independence Day celebration

CARTERET – An off-duty Woodbidge police dispatcher who helped residents of Capp Street escape a fire in their home last month is among those set to be honored Thursday during the borough’s annual Independence Day Celebration.

Mayor Dan Reiman and the Carteret Fire Department will be honor the families and off-duty Woodbridge police dispatcher Eric Seniakevgch who helped rescue the residents from the burning home. The ceremony is set for 7 p.m. at Waterfront Park on Industrial Highway off Roosevelt Avenue.

Carteret’s Independence Day Festival begins 6 p.m. at the park.

The dawn fire was described by Fire Chief Mark Hruska as “one of the fastest moving fires I have seen in my 37 years in the fire service.”

As fire trucks were on route, four neighboring families rushed to the house and helped five of the seven occupants out the front door. Two residents remained trapped in a basement bedroom as the fire spread, blocking all entrances and exits. Seniakevgch, a volunteer Woodbridge firefighter, happened to be passing by and stopped to assist as the group of neighbors broke a basement window and lifted the two remaining occupants to safety.

“It’s residents like these that really demonstrate selfless concern,” Reiman said. “The kind of thing that makes us proud to call them neighbors. It will be a true privilege to recognize them at our festival.”

“If not for the quick thinking and immediate action of these citizens, this incident would have ended in tragedy. The family is alive and together today because of the concern shown by those who helped,” Hruska said.